Lengthening Shadows
by DreamWalker18
Summary: Kana has been used and abandoned her whole life. Now, even her innocence has left her to suffer alone as the Order forces another innocence into her body in order to save her life. What adventures will ensue? LavixOC
1. New beginning

**Kara: Hey guys! I'm out with another story! Yeah I know what you guys are thinking but TRUST ME i'll actually update (sooner or later)... oh sorry guys but i just wanted to change her name and take out Saiya. it gets too confusing lol. i'll use that name some other time, kk? ENJOY!!!**

**Disclaimer: I sooooooo wish i owned Lavi... that would be great... **

* * *

~Nobody's POV!!!~ (I'm just trying this for a while, then I'll switch to 1st person)

The unconscious girl lay completely still as Hevaleska picked her up, examining her innocence.

"This girl's innocence… It's destroying her," she stated, her voice echoing in the darkened room.

"What? We can't afford to lose another exorcist! Not now!" another voice echoed.

"Isn't there anyway to save her?" a smaller voice asked.

"…yes. We can add another innocence to her heart in order to stabilize it. It would be painful but she would become more powerful than she was before and it would save her life," Hevaleska answered.

"Then we must proceed. Is there another innocence that she is compatible with?" a booming voice commanded.

"Yes. It is here," Hevaleska pulled out a small, glowing orb that sparkled as it drew closer to the girl. Hevaleska gently pressed the innocence into the girl's small chest. The girl flinched away from it, her screams filling the chamber.

"Stop! STOP HURTING ME! Help! Someone help stop the pain! HE-," she was cut off as the innocence slid into her body, merging her heart and already existent innocence with the new one. Her body went limp and Hevaleska reached up to touch the girl's forehead.

"18… 27… 39… 54… 73… 78… 87… 91… 90… 91… 90…" Hevaleska repeated the number out loud. "This girl's two innocence are fighting each other while trying to merge. Her syncro rate is flickering between 90 and 91 percent. It's higher than her single innocence's syncro rate of 83. That is all I can do for her now. She must rest until her body has settled and completely merged with each other."

"It's a good thing you brought her here, General. She would have died if she had remained at the Chinese Branch. Thank you," the booming voice spoke again.

"Komui. Have her taken to the infirmary immediately so that she may rest. She shall remain here so that we can observe her," another voice echoed.

"Of course. I shall take upstairs then," he replied. The elevator began to move as Hevaleska gently placed the unconscious girl onto the platform.

~2 Months Later~

"Agh! Stop pulling that bandage so tight! It's gonna cut off my circulation!" the girl yelled as the head nurse replaced her bandage.

"Kana Kazumaru, if you don't stop fidgeting this instant, I really will hurt you!" the head nurse cried, tightening the bandages around the girl's chest before tying a knot. "Here. You're being discharged but you must come back once a week for a check-up and don't forget to change your bandages every three days." The nurse instructed as she handed Kana her exorcist jacket, a loose fitting black shirt/hoodie that ended at just past her elbows, and some extra bandages. The girl sighed as she pulled on the shirt and jacket before stuffing the bandages into her pocket. She reached down and grabbed her slender flat-bottomed boots that ended at her knees and pulled them over her black skin-tight exorcist pants. She checked to make sure that all of her six earrings were still in place, three on each ear. She reached over and grabbed her two knives off the table and strapped them onto her hips. She turned back to face the mirror, examining herself. "Nurse, you forgot to bandage my arms and hands again." She stated removing her jacket and shirt once more and turning her back towards the nurse with her arms raised to shoulder height.

"Ah, forgive me, Kana, this will only take a minute," the nurse apologized and quickly began wrapping bandages around the girl's left shoulder and working her way down her arm, before finally weaving the bandages in between her fingers and tying the knot. She quickly completed the other arm, handing Kana her shirt and jacket.

"Thanks," Kana mumbled as she took the shirt and put it on, followed by the jacket. She turned around again to look at herself before grabbing a black cube, a little smaller than a rubix cube and stuffed it in her pocket. She grabbed a tattered red ribbon and tied her hair up in a low ponytail. She turned and began walking towards the door, the nurse calling after her. "Kana, don't forget to come back for check-ups and report directly to Chief Komui right away!"

Kana raised a hand, showing that she had heard and left the room, not even pausing to look back. She turned a corner and jogged up some stairs, pulling her hood over her black and red hair. She reached the top of the stairs and turned left before coming to a door which she opened. A man with glasses was sipping coffee, ignoring all of the paper scattered everywhere across the room. She stood in the doorway, her eyes wide, as she stared at the huge mess.

"Uhh… Chief Komui?" she asked, a little uncertain. The man looked up and stood, motioning for her to ignore the mess and come in. She shrugged and stepped forward, walking lightly, hardly rustling the paper as she crossed the room.

"Hey, I'm Kana Kazumaru, the transfer exorcist. I was told to come here once I was released from the hospital wing," she said, holding out her hand which he shook firmly.

"Yes, I'd just like to assign you to a room and have you meet a few people, that's all," he smiled at her. At the moment, a girl with long black pigtails walked in holding an empty tray.

"Brother, you really should get some work done. Reever and the others are getting tired of working overtime!" the girl scolded before catching sight of Kana. "Oh, hi! I'm Lenalee Lee, and this is my brother, Komui Lee. You must be the transfer, am I right?"

"You can call me Kana. Nice to meet you," Kana smiled and shook the girl's hand. Kana was a little taller than Lenalee, only by a few inches.

"Anyway, Lenalee, could you please show Kana-san around the place a little?" Komui asked. Lenalee nodded and told Kana to follow her.

"So, you're the new exorcist that came here? That's great! I'm sure you'll get along with everyone! Be careful around Kanda-san, though. He's a little antisocial," Lenalee rambled on as they walked. Kana nodded to acknowledge that she had heard her as she pointed out things. Finally, Lenalee took her to her new room.

"So call me if you need anything, alright? I'm two floors down. Are you sure you'll be ok getting to the office and the cafeteria?" She asked once again.

"Yeah, Lenalee, I'll be fine. Do you have a library here?" Kana asked. Lenalee nodded and gave her directions before running back down the hallway. Kana sighed, tired from Lenalee's non-stop talking be smiled at her friendly attitude. She turned and kicked her door open, walking in and flopping down onto the bed, the door swinging shut automatically. She lay there for a few seconds before getting bored of staring at the plain ceiling. She jumped up, suddenly remembering something and began attacking her bag, throwing things across the room in search of something. Finally, she pulled out two hard cover books, one white, and the other black. The black had white paint splattered across the cover and the white had red splattered over its cover. She sighed in relief and placed them on the desk that sat by the stained glass window. She returned back to the bag and pulled out a stack of paper, all of them covered in drawings, sketches, paintings, etc. that she didn't consider good enough to be put into her sketch books. She placed those pages on her desk as well. She also pulled out a long, black sword which she placed on the top of her dresser. She opened several drawers and flung clothes into them, not really caring where they went. She'd find them later, anyway. She stood up as her stomach growled at her and headed to the door, slamming it behind her as she left for the cafeteria. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the small black cube which she stared at idly before a determined look crossed her face. She stopped and glared at the cube, fixing her blood-red eyes on it. She then squeezed the metal looking cube between her thumb and forefinger. In an instant, it flattened and as she released it, it began to round the corners, becoming circular, a little wider than a quarter. Its surface was completely smooth and black and she began to toss the coin in the air, resuming her walk in search for the cafeteria.

~Kana's POV!~ (sorry I couldn't stand doing 3rd POV anymore. It annoys me GREATLY)

I whistled a little tune, flipping and catching the coin as I walked down the hall, receiving a few surprised and wondering stares. I lifted my arms up and rested them behind my head, continuing to walk down the hall.

After about half an hour of walking around aimlessly looking for the cafeteria and getting hopelessly lost, I finally found someone I could ask for directions.

'I can't believe I'm actually lost! This is soooooooooo not cool! Whatever… I'll just ask that girl over there,' I thought.

"Hey, you! Where's the cafeteria?" I called to a tall figure with long dark blue hair that carried a long sword. And instant later, my knife clashed with the figure's sword, inches away from my surprised face.

'What the hell??? She's a GUY???' I thought, shocked.

"Who told you? WHO told you my first name??? Was it General Tiedol or that baka usagi??? I'll rip anyone to shreds for calling me by my first name!" the boy yelled, glowering at me angrily. (A/N: oh I wonder who it could possibly be)

"Usagi? No… I just came here from the Chinese Branch. And I didn't call you by your first name, baka! I just asked you where the hell the stupid cafeteria was!" I shouted back glaring at him. He flinched slightly before withdrawing his sword and making a "Che" noise.

"I'm not a baka, gaki. The cafeteria is just down the hallway," he muttered before turning back around and storming down the hallway.

"Gaki??? You're calling me a BRAT??? I'm eighteen, damnit! I'm probably older than you, baka!" I yelled angrily, storming after him into the cafeteria. He turned to glare at me and sparks flew. Silence fell upon us and we sped walked towards Jerry to order before the other. Kanda won and quickly ordered his soba before leaving. I huffed angrily to myself.

'Stupid, girly, baka man!' I snarled in my head.

"What can I get you?" Jerry, the cook asked.

"Ummm… What do ya have?" I asked.

"We can make you anything you want to eat!" he replied proudly. I smiled.

"Then I'll have chicken ramen, green tea, beef yakisoba, a side of coffee mochi, and a glass of coconut juice with the pulp. Oh, and a bowl of miso soup, please!" I smiled again as the cook gave me a surprised look. It took a few minutes but I finally got all of me food onto the tray and walked over towards Kanda. I placed me food onto the table and sat down across from him. He didn't look at me and I didn't look at him. They sat in silence, eating quietly. I drained my glass of coconut juice and stood up at the same time as Kanda. We glared at each other for a moment before Kanda walked over to the garbage, dumping his tray and leaving the room. I stuck out my tongue at him before following his example. I had just dumped my tray when I heard a familiar voice calling me from across the room. I turned and saw Lenalee waving at me, motioning for me to come to the table.

"Kana! Come here! I want you to meet some friends of mine!" she called. I nodded and smiled before walking over.

"Hey, Lenalee. Sup?" I asked as I approached.

"I wanted you to meet one of my friends! Allen, this is Kana," Lenalee introduced me to a short boy, with white hair and silver eyes.

'He's probably a few years younger than me.'

"Hello, my name is Allen Walker. It's nice to meet you," Allen said, his white hair swishing around his face as he shook my hand.

"Nice to meet ya. You can call me Kana," I replied, smiling. "Um, Lenalee? Who was mister 'I have a serious wedgy up my ass' with the sword?"

Allen burst out laughing and Lenalee giggled at my comment.

"That's Kanda," she replied, still giggling.

"Why do you ask?" Allen wondered.

I shrugged before making a face. "I asked him for directions and the next thing I knew he was trying to chop of my head and calling me a brat! Asshole…" I mumbled, pouting silently. They laughed and smiled at me. I heard a crackling noise in the corner and already knew what was coming.

"Hey guys I'm gonna go back to my room. I'll see you later, ok?" I said before jogging out of the room. I ran down the hall and up the stairs until I finally got to Komui's office, all the while listening to Komui's voice echoing throughout the hallway calling, "Kana Kazumaru, please report to my office." I opened the door just as he finished the message and walked in.

He blinked, and said, "Wow, what are you, psychic?"

I laughed before replying. "No, it's part of one of my innocences. It's connected to my mind and enhances my five senses as well as balance, flexibility, memory, etc. My other one is my life force. It's the one that controls my emotions and the power to bend and alter this cube into anything I want," I continued solemnly. "Without it, I'd be out like that." I snapped my fingers.

"Ah, so that's what it is," he said sadly. "I'm afraid we'll have to do a few tests on you and your innocence." I nodded and smiled understandingly.

"It's alright. I understand. I'm the only one of my kind so it only makes sense." He nodded.

"Well, we might as well go to the lab and get this over with in the lab," he said and led the way downstairs. I sat down in the chair and he strapped me down before pulling out a drill and grinning evil.

"Wh-what are you gonna do with that?" I squeaked as he approached me.

"Just kidding! I just need to draw some blood," he said, throwing the drill over his shoulder and pulling out a tiny needle.

I yawned as I walked down the hallway. It was around eleven at night but I couldn't fall asleep. I had finally given up on trying and had decided to go to the library. The huge wooden doors creaked open slowly and I walked in. The dim lights that burnt along the walls flickered ominously, the air so thick with silence I could almost feel it. I searched the shelves and grabbed all of the books that looked interesting. In the end, I was holding a stack of seven books and I couldn't even see over the top, not that I was awake enough to care whether I could see anything or not. Suddenly, I bumped into something as there was a loud bang as books fell to the floor.

"Ita…" I mumbled, rubbing my head. I looked up and say a boy about my age, rubbing his forehead. He looked up and our eyes met. Well, my eyes met his eye. The tall red head smiled crookedly at me.

"Sorry, I didn't think anyone else would be up this late so I wasn't looking where I was going," he explained, picking up his books.

I laughed. "Wow, great minds think alike! I was thinking the exact same thing!" He smiled and held out his hand.

"The name's Lavi. Nice ta meet ya," he said rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm Kana Kazumaru, the transfer exorcist," I said shaking his hand.

"Do you go by Kana or are you all formal?" he asked.

'Wow, he's the first one to actually ask me.'

"It doesn't really matter what you call me," I shrugged, beginning to pick up my books as well.

"Hmmm… Then I'll call you K-chan!" he smiled happily. He helped me pick up my books and we headed over to a table, setting down our books.

"You sure read a lot, Lavi-san," I said, staring at all the books he had been holding as he plopped down into a chair.

"No need to be so formal, K-chan! You can call me just call me Lavi. And I read a lot because I'm a Bookman in training. I have to read in order to obtain information," he replied smiling.

"Oh, I've heard of Bookmen. They record the untold history of the world, right?" I asked. He seemed surprised that I actually knew what a bookman was.

"Yeah… how'd you know?" he asked.

"Well… when I was little, a man, I'm assuming that he was a bookman, took me in when my parents were… killed. He traveled with me and told me that he wanted to train me to record the untold history of the world. He wanted me to become his apprentice. But then we were attacked by akuma and he abandoned me. I raised myself until I was found by one of the generals and taken to the Chinese Branch," I explained, kicking my leg over the arm of the chair and resting my head in my hand that was propped on the other arm.

"I guess we have something in common, then," he smirked. I chuckled quietly.

"Yeah… I guess we do," I replied.

* * *

**Kara: Tell me what ya think, k? It's my first DGM story so LEMME KNOW!!!!!!!!! bai bai!**


	2. Forgoten memories

**Kara: Hiya! i finally updated! yay me!!! lol anyway... thanks for the reviews! cookies 4 u all! hehe... hope u enjoy the story!!**

**Disclaimer: no i don't own the wonderful thing known as DGM... -sob sobs- ah well maybe next time!!!**

* * *

~Kana POV~

_My mother's sobs echoed throughout the silent house. I peeked through the crack in the door. She was slumped on the floor, holding his old knife in her arms, cradling it like a child. Taiko, my older brother, knelt next to her, trying to console her._

"_No! NO! You could have stopped it! If you had died in his place… yes… if you die then… then he'll forgive me. He'll come back to me! Yes! You must die for you father! I'll kill you for not protecting him! Die! DIE!" _

_She was screaming now, raising the knife above her head, preparing to strike him, kill Nii-chan. I whimpered, backing away from the door, trying to run away. _

_Nii-chan yelled although it was stifled by her hand. I cried out with him and if felt as though I had been stabbed by the knife and not him. My knees crumpled underneath my weight, hot tears streaming down my face as I whimpered quietly. _

_She paused, turning towards the doorway, smiling widely, a crazed look in her eyes. She shoved the door open and her grin widened. She began to laugh insanely. She raised the knife and brought it down on my left shoulder. I screamed, trying to stand and run, only to fall back to my knees in pain. I crawled, anything to get away. She raised the knife again, her laughter ringing in my ears. I shut my eyes, crying out. But the knife never came down and I looked up to see my brother holding her arms in a death grip. He twisted her wrist, causing her to drop the knife. It skidded across the floor towards me, blood smearing the floor as it slid. _

"_K-Kana… run. Leave while you can. She's lost it. There's nothing more you can do. Go. Go, now!" Taiko rasped, blood dripping from his mouth, more sliding down his cheek and chest. _

"_Nii-chan… You hurt Nii-chan! Nothing can bring him back, Mother! Nothing! Stop hurting him, stop!" I was screaming at her, having finally made it to my feet, the knife in hand. _

"_You ungrateful children! You BOTH deserve to die! Hehehe… Give me that knife! You have no right to hold it, you filthy scum! Die! Die, die, die, DIE!" she screamed at me, blood flying off her face and struggling hands into my hair and onto my face and hands. A sharp crack split the air and Taiko yelled in pain and fell to his knees before collapsing on the floor in a puddle of blood. I held out the knife if front of me, trying to be strong. She advanced towards me, a small pistol in her hand, now pointed at me. She fired at me, the bullet skimming my cheek, another nearly imbedding itself in my neck, leaving a large, bleeding gash in its place. She fired three more times, one connecting with my right thigh, another plunging into my stomach, the last hitting my chest near my left shoulder. I screamed again and raised the knife. _

_Blood gushed over my hand and splattered my face and hair, her screams continuing to ring in my ears long after she fell to the ground. _

_With one knife, three lives had been taken. My father's by his own hand. My brother's by my own mother, and my mother's by myself. I fell to my knees, screaming and crying out for someone to help me, to save me from my nightmare._

I sat up with a start, my body covered in a cold sweat. I was breathing hard. It was over, my re-occurring dream. I knew what should have happened next. **He** had come and asked me what was wrong. I had told him and brought them back, all three of them and then killed them all over again. It had been the knife that had saved me. It had contained innocence and had reacted when it realized that I was compatible. I had been eight at the time.

I looked around me, realizing that I was still in the library. Sunlight flowed in through the huge glass windows. I looked over the table and saw that Lavi was still asleep in the chair across from me, surrounded by books. His bright red hair shone in the sunlight and gently brushed against his face. He seemed so peaceful and fragile, like a child, sweet and caring-.

'Agh! What am I doing? I shouldn't be thinking about that kind of stuff,' I thought, shaking my head to rid myself of such thoughts.

Judging by the sun's light, I guessed it was around seven in the morning. I yawned and rubbed the sleep from my eyes before standing quietly and stretching my stiff limbs. My shoulders and back cracked and my legs groaned in protest as I stood.

"Ah, I see you're awake," Lenalee's voice said quietly as she approached out table. I smiled and nodded.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Around seven. You should probably head down the breakfast," she said, coming to a halt in front of me. There was a low groan from behind me and I turned to see Lavi stretching lazily and yawning before standing up.

"Hey guys… sup? What time is it? I'm starved!" He rambled tiredly while smiling.

I laughed. "It's seven, Lavi. Wanna come get something to eat with me at the cafeteria?" My stomach decided it wanted to voice its opinion on the matter and growled loudly. All three of us stared at it for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Ok, lemme rephrase that. I'm going to get something to eat at the cafeteria. You wanna come? There now, are you happy, stomach-san?" I asked it, patting my stomach fondly and smiling. Lavi grinned and Lenalee giggled.

"I have to go back to Komui nii-san's office to help him with his work and I already ate so why don't you two go together?" Lenalee suggested.

"Sure, why not? I guess we'll see you later, Lenalee!" Lavi called and waved as I dragged him by the arm out of the library towards the cafeteria. When I finally let him stand properly, we had already gone down a few hallways and I was totally lost.

"Uhh…" I was stumped. I stopped and Lavi righted himself and chuckled at my confused face. I turned towards him, pouting and he laughed harder. "Meany-poo…" I mumbled, sticking my tongue out at him. He grinned and rested his arms behind his head.

"Aw, don't say that, K-chan. You're the one that got us lost, remember?" he smiled at me. He glanced around before motioning for me to follow.

"Grrrgle…" I clutched my stomach as it growled at me for food.

"Baka stomach! Shuttup already!" I growled at it, glaring.

"We're here! Come on, we better get you some food before that monster in your stomach gets any angrier at us!" he laughed and pulled me over to where Jerry was.

"What can I get you two on this fine morning?" Jerry asked cheerfully. Lavi ordered the set combination A.

"And for you, Kana-chan?" he asked.

"Umm… I'll have cold soba with a bowl of rice and some green tea," I stated. It didn't take long for the order to be finished and Lavi headed towards a table that appeared to be stacked high with mountains of food. I gapped at it and followed him, slowly.

"Hey, Moyashi-chan! How's it going?" Lavi called, peering around the mountain of food.

'Moyashi-chan? Who the hell is th-,' I was cut off mid-sentence when Allen jumped up indignantly, "It's Allen! A-L-L-E-N! I am NOT a moyashi!" He seemed to be pouting. He quickly caught sight of me and blushed as I gapped at the giant pile of food. "Oh! Ummm… Good morning Kana-chan."

"WOW! Allen-san, do you really eat ALL this food???" I asked.

"Umm… yes?" he seemed nervous as he replied, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down at the floor.

"THAT'S SOOOOOO COOL!!!" I exclaimed excitedly.

"Huh?" both of them looked at me confused.

"Hehe, I'm impressed! It would take me forever to eat all that! All of it looks so yummy though…" I said as drool dripped from my mouth. Lavi chuckled.

"GRRRRGLE GRRRG GRRRIIG!!!" an odd noise erupted from my stomach. All three of us jumped before I glared at my stomach, a pout playing across my lips.

"Didn't I tell you to shuttup already, stomach-san? I'll feed you when I want to!!!" I grumbled.

"Grrbblmmeeegr…" a quieter growl was the response. Lavi and Allen sweat dropped as I continued to scold my stomach.

"You really are impatient. I'm ALLOWED to have a social life, ya know?" I continued to pout.

"Grrg…" it replied again. I stuck my tongue out at it before looking up at Lavi's beaming face and Allen's wide smile, a gloved hand held over his mouth in an attempt to stifle a laugh.

"Hehe… sorry. I guess all of you're food made me even more hungry," I smiled apologetically. Allen smiled before turning back to his food and began eating at an inhuman pace. Lavi chuckled before grabbing my arm and pulling me over to an empty spot at the table.

"Eat. Before you start up another conversation with your stomach!" he smiled. I didn't need to be told twice. I quickly gorged myself with my breakfast before going back or seconds. Lavi ate slowly, watching as Allen and I ate our fill of all sorts of food.

I took one last bite of the pudding I was eating before sighing contentedly.

"Ne, Allen-san? Are you a parasitic type?" I asked. He looked over at me with a drumstick in his mouth before nodding. "How bout you, Lavi?" I asked, turning to him.

"Nah… I'm equipment type," he smiled. "What about you? Parasitic or equipment?"

"Mmm… I'm not sure actually…" I mumbled. He looked confused. "I have two." I tried to explain.

"Two… two what?" he asked, his head tilting to the side in a childish manner.

"Two innocence," I whispered, trying to keep anyone else from hearing.

"EH??? Really??? You have two inno-," he was cut off as my hand covered his mouth, muffling his words.

"Baka! I'm not sure if Komui-san wants my to tell people about my… my condition," I explained quickly in a whisper. He nodded slowly and I pulled my hand from his mouth.

"How come???" Allen asked quietly as he leaned across the table, apparently having heard what I had said.

"I… I don't remember. It's still kinda hazy. I've been here for at least two months. But I was in the hospital wing so that I could recover from something. But I can't remember what exactly," I murmured, looking down at my bandaged hands, searching my memories for some kind of hint as to what had happened. I felt something warm grip my hand and I looked up to see Lavi's smiling at me, his emerald eye filled with understanding and… something else. It had only been a flicker but it had been there. Was it… sorrow? I felt an odd feeling of familiarity when I looked into his deep green eye.

"Don't push yourself! It's alright if you don't remember! It'll come to you in time," he said in a calm voice. I nodded and he stood up, his hand releasing mine as he picked up his tray to go dump it out before leaving the room. I looked after him, my hand still feeling the warmth of his hand over mine.

~flashback~

_Someone was holding my hand tightly, and I was crying. I was calling someone's name… Taiko! I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off. _

"_Please don't cry, K-chan… It'll be alright. Just say you cry anymore, okay? It hurts… when you cry for me and not yourself. Things… shouldn't have turned out the way they did for you… You deserve better than this. Forgive me for not being able to save you from the cruel reality of this life… Forgive me…" his voice was quiet and filled with sorrow. His emerald eyes looked up into mine as he weakly reached his hand up to wipe away some of my tears. "Please… Say that you won't cry for anyone… but yourself… promise me…" he whispered, his breathe becoming faint. _

"_H-hai… I promise, Nii-chan… I won't cry anymore… but please… please don't leave again…" I whispered, trying to stem my tears. _

"_Be strong, K-chan… live life the way you want to… don't let others tell you what to do… don't be afraid to stand up for what's right… be strong for me…" his eyes were beginning to close. _

"_Hai! Hai, Nii-chan! I'll do anything for you! Please! Please don't leave me! I don't want to be alone!" I cried. _

"…_Be… strong… and don't cry… okay…? ...Make this the last time… you cry…" he whispered, his eyes clouding over. _

"_Nii-chan! Nii-chan, don't leave me! …N-Nii-chan…?" there was only silence. "Nii-chan! Nii-chan wake up! Please! Nii-chan!!!" I screamed at his limp body, my chest heaving with sobs. After a while, the tears stopped even though my body kept on shaking. "I promise, Nii-chan. I'll never cry again…" I whispered, my body leaning against his. _

~end flashback~

"Kana-chan? Are you alright? Kana-chan?" Allen's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Hmm?" I hummed, turning towards him. He looked worried.

"You look a little pale. Are you feeling well?" he asked, reaching a hand to feel my forehead. He pulled back and shook his head. "You don't have fever."

"I'm alright. I-I just realized I needed to go get something. That's all," I stood, faking a smile for his benefit. "I'll see you later, Allen-san," I said as I walked away hurriedly. As I reached the doors they opened and Kanda walked in. I brushed past him in a hurry, not even noticing when our shoulders knocked against each other. Kanda looked back, pausing as the door shut.

I ran through the halls, up the stairs until I finally found my room. I opened the door and closed it. My knees buckled underneath my weight and I slid to the ground, my back against the door. My body was shaking and my eyes were wide in shock. I pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my face in them, trying to hide from the world. I could feel the tears coming and I steeled myself against them, holding them back. I would not break my promise to Nii-chan.

_Knock Knock_

I jumped, the knocking on my door coming as a surprise. I hadn't heard anyone approaching my room. Then again… I hadn't really been paying much attention so I could have missed something. I stood up and straightened my clothes before opening the door.

"Ah, Kana-chan! Are you alright? You look a bit worn out," Lenalee asked worriedly.

"Ah, I'm fine! I'm just a bit tired! I haven't caught up on my sleep yet, hehe…" I lied quickly.

"Oh…" she said, looking down. There was an awkward silence.

"Ano… did you come to tell me something?" I asked.

"Hai! Nii-san asked you to report to his office to be briefed for a mission. Sorry, I forgot," she stated, a little embarrassed.

"No, no, it's okay! I forget things all the time!" I said, trying to cheer her up. "Well, I should head to his office then. Thanks, Lenalee!" I called as I ran down the hall.

* * *

**Kara: yay! i finished! hehe i'm so glad! i think i'll be able 2 update the next chappie sooner cuz i'm on break! yay!! R/R ppl! hehe bai bai!!!**


End file.
